NICOSIA: Police in Cyprus have arrested a British man on suspicion of terror-related offenses and espionage, authorities said on Saturday, with Israel accusing Iran鈥檚 Revolutionary Guards of trying to attack Israeli citizens on the island.

The man appeared before a district court on Saturday, which ordered an eight-day detention pending inquiries.

Police gave no further details, citing national security.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a post on X that an Iranian attempt to attack Israeli citizens in Cyprus was thwarted, 鈥渢hanks to the activity of the Cypriot security authorities, in cooperation with Israeli security services.鈥�

He gave no more details about the nature of the attack, and there was no immediate comment from Iranian authorities.

A spokesperson for Britain鈥檚 Foreign Office confirmed the individual鈥檚 nationality, saying it was in contact with local authorities.

鈥淲e are in contact (with) the authorities in Cyprus regarding the arrest of a British man,鈥� the spokesperson told Reuters.

Several Cypriot news outlets reported the suspect was a man of Azeri ethnic descent and had been arrested in the Zakaki suburb of the coastal city of Limassol. The suspect was thought to have had a British RAF military base in nearby Akrotiri under surveillance, as well as Cyprus鈥檚 own Andreas Papandreou Air Base in the western region of Paphos since mid-April, Cyprus鈥檚 ANT1 news portal reported.

Cyprus lies very close to the Middle East and has in recent days been used as a transit point for people either leaving or going to the region amid the conflict between regional foes Israel and Iran.

Terror-related offenses on the island are very rare.